News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1887-07-07
Hyde Park Centennial.
The Meeting of the Children

DEDICATED TO THE DEAR OLD FRIENDS.
BY MRS. MARY A. PARKER.
How many years, dear friends of old.
Into the silent past have rolled
Since you and |, i'll youths glad dav
over these hills and thrO' these wales
Famed by the breath of scented gales
together took our joyous way.
We plucked the flowers of early sprInp.
Ana breathed their fragrant bl0sSOming
Inc sweetest sought we DER and DER
III, II, from the forests leafy floor
The trailing arbutuS we bore
When blaZed the summer sun on high.
And Sc0rched us with his burning eve
Along the rivers bank we strayed.
And fingered in the pine trees shade,
Or lOitered by the cooling riIls.
That burst ill beauty from the hills.
Our presence many an orchard knew.
Where hung in tantaliZing view
The tempting fruit, while overhead
The autumn sky its glOFieS shed
The sunshine and the shadow fleet
Chasing each other at our feet
We wandered thrO' the purple haze
OF Indian summers dreamy DAYS
While hanging low the crimson sim
His yearly course had almost RIM.
Mhen ieli tile snow with what delight
We hailed its downward feathery flight
How rushed into the icy cold
And winter Stormed in his stronghold.
For lamps to light our evening Sky
me ndihiuS "oIluS SnOne out on high;
And bright Aurora, waving forth
Her brilliant banners in the north.
displayed before our daZZled sight
The wonderful electric light,
The future ShOne before orr ewes
EmblaZOned with million dives:
Hope stood afar with beckoning hand
To guide us to that radiant land
As passed before our eager gaze
The vision of those coming DAYS
We stood transported ats6rssfght,
Forever all there fey 1S
That beamed not from;the 6elnffng skies.
But only from our youthful eyes.
Time glided on, and without ruth
He bore away the dreams of Youth:
The sweep of his dark pinionS brought
Those lovely visions all to naught;
Before the advancing years they sped
But, trailing glory as they fled
Imprinted on our longing sight
A fadeleSS picture of their flight.
Our paths divided, some must stav.
Some seek their fortune far away;
So, parting in those far-Off-days
Each of us went our several ways
Which, i'll the futures rayleSs night
Stretched on beyond all human Sipbt.
Since then We've had our hopes and fears.
We've looked on life thrO' smiles and tears:
The sun has cheered us with his light.
Dark clouds have turned our day TO NIGHT,
By shadows oft we've been alIured.
Have toiled, and struggled, and endured
OF all the work our hands have wrought,
OF all the gifts the years have brought
What have we saved from times fell hand.
What WreSted from his magic wand?
As fiery youth to age has turned,
l trust we have some wisdom learned
Tho every hour surrounded by
Impenetrable mystery
Tho sOrely tried have kept our faith
In God and man thrO' change and death;
For God is love tho man is frail,
And truth DER error shall prevail
The hope OF youth is not all dead,
The light of youth has not all fed,
There still float over us faint CLEANS,
Pale phantOmS of our early Dreams
We yet behold with raptured ewes
The beauty of the varied dyes,
That flush the glorious sunset skies;
And still rejoice when morning light
UnSealS the eyelidS of the night
The years have flown, to-day we come
To meet again in our old home
connect again and greet once more
The unfOrgOtten friends of wore;
From south, and north, and west and east.
We come to this centennial feast.
For now our mother calls us here
To celebrate her hundredth year.
Old? Nay not so, she's just begun,
A century Old her race to run;
And generations yet untold
Shall range these hills ere she is old,
While we WhOve lived but half that time
Already are far past our prime;
Our life, a moment quickly glideS,
We come and go, the earth abides.
AS gazing in each well known face
The once familiar lines to trace.
We find some missing they whose eyes
Have opened on serener skies.
Some left us when all life was bright,
And some when age had dimmed its light;
How long we for their presence here.
The lost, the beautiful, the dear.
As travellers meet when journeying on,
just say Good day." and then are gone,
SO we for one short summers day,
Meet, greet each other, and away
But, as we for a moment stand
In friendly guiSe, clasped hand in hand
What is the thought that dimS our eyes,
And fills us with a sad surprise?
8 Never again!" Dear friends we're old.
The flood of years DER us has rolled,
Has blanched orr hair once brown or gold;
Has left the tfSssssof many a caro-
Upon our brOwS once smooth and fair;
Has brought our feet far towards that shore
Where waits the bark to take us DER.
Which shall go first? All! who can tell!
And so to all, Hail, and FAREWELL!
July 4, 1897.